Octopus Group has been appointed by Swedish tech innovator EasyPark to launch its new parking guidance service, Find & Pay, in Europe.

With the average motorist wasting over 2,500 hours of their life searching for a space in busy city streets, parking is a huge challenge for people and cities. Studies show that 30% of traffic in congested cities is caused by people searching for parking, and that this could contribute to as much as 50 million tons of pollution across Europe.

EasyPark has invested 10 years of R&D and over €10M to change this, by developing the first truly predictive parking guidance technology. Find & Pay uses big data, predictive analytics and machine learning to reduce the time it takes to find parking in congested cities by up to 50 per cent, reducing stress for motorists and the congestion and emissions associated with city parking today.

Octopus Group will be coordinating a widescale European launch programme, driving brand awareness for EasyPark amongst city planners and local authorities, whilst also engaging consumers as the app rolls out across Europe.

Toby Brown, Client Director at Octopus Group, comments: “We’re hugely excited to be working with EasyPark. Their brilliant technology is helping solve a frustrating problem faced by every motorist, as well as reducing emissions in city centres. They’re going to make a big difference to people’s lives and we can’t wait to help them make it happen with an ambitious European media launch.”

Matthew Tooth, PR and social media manager at EasyPark Group, adds: “Octopus Group’s passion for our mission clearly came across from the beginning. This, in conjunction with a clear understanding of our technology and the power of their Brand To Sales proposition made it an easy choice.”

Find & Pay is currently undergoing large-scale beta testing, using over 500 testers across 31 cities to test, validate and increase predictive accuracy. The system’s self-learning algorithms will continue to improve over time, through continued testing and via continuous user feedback when it is rolled out to the public at large. Find & Pay will launch in Stockholm in September followed by rollout across over 30 major European cities during Autumn.

A big thanks to Leo Cosendai from Third Ear for bringing sound meditation & modern mindfulness to our office today. All the Octopedes who attended had an amazing experience. #WellnessDay https://t.co/Ic3mhGFw3W